Kirby: Triple Deluxe (2014)

“All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.”
-Charles M. Schulz

“The following is a guest post by The Green Screen Mage.”

Yes, you read that right. The Green Screen Mage is writing this, not the White-Out Mage, our resident Kirby lover. But I mean who doesn’t love a good Kirby game? Life can be tough, so chilling and saving the world as a pink, flying puff ball can be just what you need sometimes.

I’m also writing this review to commemorate a special day for our round hero. Kirby is celebrating his 24th anniversary, in America, today. His first game was released in April twenty-four years ago, but didn’t get released in America until the first of August. I know. Little Kirby is in his mid-twenties already. They grow up so fast.

In Kirby: Triple Deluxe for the 3DS, Kirby wakes up to find himself in the land of Floralia in the sky above his world, the Dreamstalk having been planted and carrying up several chunks of Kirby’s land with it. Our brave, pink hero once again has to save his home, Dream Land, from an evil force! His equally loveable arch-enemy, King Dedede, has been kidnapped and Kirby must follow the Dreamstalk all the way to the top to fight the evil Queen behind the kidnapping and this destruction. Can he save his planet or will it be destroyed? Well, yes, he can. I doubt they’ll decide to go that dark with Kirby just yet.

I’m going to fake like I’ve played many other Kirby games for a minute. We all know Kirby for his copy ability, because who doesn’t love seeing Kirby in a thousand ridiculous hats. This game keeps a lot of those previous abilities and also creates a few new ones. Along with Kirby’s similar abilities and moves, you’ll find the usual upbeat music and levels with very familiar baddies stopping you every few feet.

The game also includes a few extra modes apart from the main story. They have a Super Smash style fighting game in Kirby Fighters. One where you get to bounce across drums before the time runs out as everyone’s favorite villain, King Dedede, in Dedede Drum Dash. And, upon finishing the game, you are given the chance to replay through it on a harder mode as King Dedede in Dededetour.

The 8-Bit ReviewVisuals: 10/10
Bright. Colorful. Vivacious. Lighthearted. And every other adjective that can be used to describe Kirby’s world. A lot of games thrive from the darker and grittier look, but Kirby sticks with the usual Nintendo appeal and why would you want anything different? I do apologize for the picture qualities. Capturing good pictures of the visuals on a 3DS is hard. I promise it looks good.

The game uses the 3D effects pretty well. There are monsters that come from the back of the screen and Kirby even has to go from the front platform to the back one in various ways to solve puzzles. Occasionally, he’ll even get pushed past the front platform into the screen. Poor guy.

I do love the 3D features, but I’m not one to really keep them on the whole game because they strain my eyes. I won’t knock it for that though.

Audio: 9/10
Adorable! It just has such cute little tunes! Yes, I am going to be gushing about how adorable this game is the whole time! If you can’t handle the cutesy, I suggest asking Well-Red Mage to write something. It’s just so much fun. How do you keep a smile off of your face listening to this???

Gameplay: 8/10
Really fun. Like I said before, Kirby has a lot of similar moves and abilities as he does in the first. However if you’re used to the original games, you may have some difficulty at first figuring out the new set up on the 3DS. It took the White-Out Mage a minute to get the hang of it.

Otherwise, it has rather solid gameplay. There is an unending number of abilities for Kirby to copy and throughout each level you have to use them to get through certain barriers. You collect Sun Stones throughout the game on each level and will occasionally have to go back to a level once you find the ability you need somewhere else in order to collect that Sun Stone. This was one aspect I wished they utilized a little bit more, but it is a Kirby game.

The game has very creative bosses that you will have to fight again later on, so figure out the best way to take them down. Try to keep a hold of your ability. This makes it a lot easier and quicker to take down the bosses. If you lose it, you’ll be stuck waiting for the bosses to drop stars for you to fire at them.

Best part of the game. Hypernova Kirby. Have you ever wanted to suck up 10 enemies at once? Trees? Trains? Kirby becomes this flashing rainbow-y destructive force that nothing can stand before. It’s beautiful.

Narrative: 8/10
King Dedede has been captured by the evil Queen Sectonia and the people of Floralia need the help of the one true hero to save their kingdom and Dream Land. Kirby must deal with the struggle of saving his enemy and being forced into saving another Kingdom without even being asked. The pressures of saving the world are getting to him and he’s just not sure if he can continue on. And even worse this is all a lie.

Come on, guys. It’s a Kirby game, so I hope you’re not expecting some deep storyline going in. He does have to save King Dedede and Floralia though. It’s a cute story, fun for kids and those who just want something lighter.

Honestly, my favorite part of the narrative is Kirby’s utterly carefree face the entire time. He saves Dedede and is getting yelled at and he’s just chilling. He’s this destructive force and he just doesn’t care.

Multiplayer: 8/10
Ever wanted to play Super Smash Bros. with your friends, but only as Kirby? Well guess what?! Now you can! Kirby Fighters allows you to link up with your friends, choose from the plethora of abilities, and battle it out, provided they have a 3DS and a copy of the game.

Dededetour is also fun, because you get to see the best time of your friend’s and others and try to beat it.

Accessibility: 8/10
I’ve touched on this already. The game controls are pretty simple for previous players, especially those who have played Super Smash Bros. If you’re used to older controls, it may take you a moment to get use to the switch in buttons. Can’t controls just keep the A and B buttons in the same place?

Challenge: 7/10
This game can be pretty forgiving. If you die, it starts you off at the beginning of the section and it’s pretty easy to collect 1 ups. That being said, it has it’s tough moments. There were times I died a good ten times just trying to get through one puzzle. The puzzles will challenge you, but not to the point of chucking your controller.

Another layer of challenge is added in the Dededetour mode, after you beat the game. The point is to finish the game as quickly as possible. Warp points are hidden throughout the level to allow you to skip whole chunks of the game. If you miss one, you’re going to add time on. Not to mention all the bosses are more difficult as well.

Replayability: 8/10
Well, you’ll definitely want to play it through at least one more time in Dededetour. It’s fun to try and see how quickly you can beat it, and you play King Dedede! I managed to clear it in 2 and a half hours, so it’s not crazy time consuming.

If you’re a fan of Kirby, this game is easily one you’ll want to pick up again just for fun. Being on a handheld device also makes it nice for playing when you’re out and about.

My Personal Grade: 9/10
What could be more fun than playing a flying, pink ball and saving the world with fun music and colorful environments? Not much, if you’re the White-Out Mage. Just kidding, I loved it too. The first Kirby game I played, Epic Yarn, was with her and we got pretty far. I don’t think we beat it but I don’t remember last week, let alone years ago. Ever since then, Kirby has kind of endeared himself to me. You can’t help but have good memories with this little guy as he just chills and eats things. Everything.

Things can get stressful. The world is crazy. People like to fight over big things and petty things that don’t matter. Sometimes you just need to take some time to save Dream Land with Kirby.

Aggregated Score: 8.3

Did you enjoy this post? Consider becoming a Warrior of Light and join us in restoring integrity and quality to entertainment journalism. We specialize in long-form, analytical reviews and we aim to expand into a podcast and webzine with paid contributors! See our Patreon page for more info!

Hey, hey, hey! I guess that means the system works! At least, the Green Screen Mage will have to tell you how fair your scores are. I have yet to get my well-red nubbies all over this game. Glad you tried out the 8-bit scoring.